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DEVELOPING A SAFER WORKPLACE THROUGH SAFETY KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

ABSTRACT

Safety
at the workplace is one of the essential concerns of every worker, supervisor
and enterprise manager. Our research was focused towards improving safety at
the workplace through a better safety knowledge management. We have designed a
safety knowledge management system (SaKnoMaS) which includes a safety knowledge
map that will disseminate the resources towards the main components of the
workplace system. The obtained results
are spectacular in a sense of way. Our prototype solution improves safety and health at workplace with
more than 30% through a better safety knowledge management.

PROBLEM DEFINITION

Safety
at the workplace is one of the essential concerns of every worker, supervisor
and enterprise manager. However, safety understanding and implementation is
very different. Safety, from the worker’s point of view is different from
managerial safety image. Also, an external observer could have a very different
safety image than the inside one. This difference of opinions is not
necessarily bad. But when it interferes
with an optimal safety assurance there
could be problems.

In
risk prevention knowledge is essential[1]. Simple
information is not good enough. Knowledge in order to perform optimally and
safely is a need. This knowledge must:

Show
what to do;

Show
how to do;

Show
why to do so;

Safety
culture;

Safety
motivation;

Specific
tasks;

Acquirement of knowledge- through elicitation tools like Acquire;

Internal representation of knowledge- there was sought a solution to
optimize the old representation through knowledge rules; representation
through knowledge rules is optimal
generally; an object oriented approach was considered as the best
solution for optimization from this point on- so , the internal
representation of knowledge was performed in the shape of knowledge
objects.

Tailoring the knowledge in order to perform optimally for the safety
domain- general knowledge could be a bit not prepared to solve specific
safety problems. So , there is a need for safety knowledge that will allow
the efficient solving of specific problems;

Storage of knowledge resources for further usage; the ideal storage
solution was found in the form of knowledge seeds; knowledge seeds are
roots of knowledge bases that can be further developed interactivelly
through the users contribution; the next figure presents this solution;

Knowledge dissemination; we considered that the whole workplace could
be used as a safety knowledge disseminator, partly through clasical means
(posters, etc.) partly through ambiental friendly knowledge systems. In
this respect we have developed portable disseminators, based on devices
like PDA’s or Pocket PC’s.

If there is any need for supplemental knowledge;

What kind of knowledge is needed;

If the knowledge management process is performed;

If the knowledge management process is optimal or could be improved;

Item

Yes

No

Not know

1.Do you have sufficient knowledge in order to avoid
risks at workpace ?

Specific risks at workplace:

2.Do you have necessary and sufficient knowledge in
order to perform the current activities ?

Current activities being performed:

3.Do you have the necessary and sufficient knowledge in
order to perform usual activities ?

Usual activities being performed:

4.Do you have sufficient knowledge in order to use the
existing workplace tools and devices ?

Most usual workplace tools and devices:

5.Do you have the necessary knowledge in order to
perform maintenance activities ?

Current maintenance activities:

6.Do you have the necessary knowledge in order to
perform first help and emergency activities ?

First help and emergency activities:

Item

Yes

No

Not know

1.Do you have the necessary knowledge in order to
perform current supervisory activities ?

Current supervisory activities:

2.Do you have the necessary knowledge in order to
perform current workplace management activities ?

Current workplace management activities:

Acquirement of new knowledge- 22% of the intervieved persons have no
such knowledge;

Improvement of the existing knowledge- 30% of the intervieved persons
had just summary maintenance knowledge.

Development of new knowledge;

A safety knowledge assessment system;

A safety knowledge acquirement and processing system;

A safety knowledge dissemination system;

Knowledge
could be the difference between a severe accident and 100% safety. Knowledge
could also be the difference between loss and an optimal functioning of the
enterprise.

Why
knowledge ? Because knowledge could be seen as the cheapest safety resource.
Knowledge is plenty through the trial and error everyday work experiences.

But
knowledge is also a very expensive thing. Specific domain knowledge is
invaluable. In order to acquire knowledge, to process it optimally (to tailor
it according with the specific enterprise needs), to store it (in order to use
it lately) or re-use it and more
important to disseminate knowledge among those who need it a knowledge
management system is required.

Our
research started with this fact, proved through numberless incidents and
accidents occurred in Romania
and caused by insufficient or improper allocated knowledge.

Through
the usage of specific knowledge engineering methods and techniques correlated
with safety mastering procedures it
could be defined and developed a better safety knowledge management.

Knowledge
management is performed through assessment, prevention and risk reduction, as
could be seen in the next figure.

Figure 1 Knowledge management and resource allocation

All
those activities must be performed through resource allocation. Resource
allocation is the central point of safety management and also of safety
knowledge management. Resources allocated optimally could avoid economic loss,
incidents and accident minimizing also the costs of prevention.

Knowledge
could also improve safety attitudes, as shown in the next figure.

Some
very important improvements could be obtained through mediated safety knowledge
management from characteristics like:

So,
the management of the knowledge resource could play a central part in the
prevention game[2].

Knowledge
resource is relatively cheap[3], at hand,
easy to acquire and process. Used optimally it could be a definite asset in
avoiding occupational incidents and accidents.

Unifying
the safety vision in order to assure an united safety image for all the players
at the workplace could also be obtained through knowledge management.

So,
taking into account all these aspects and our previous research towards the
safety knowledge engineering, we decided to start a research project focused on
safety knowledge management.

Our
research was focused towards improving safety at the workplace through a better
safety knowledge management. This management, based on the knowledge
engineering concept, could assure a unified safety vision, beneficial for
everyone implied in the process.

USED TECHNIQUES AND METHODS

In order to be able to process knowledge, there must be
used techniques and methods connected with knowledge engineering[4].

Methods specific to knowledge engineering are used along
the whole life cycle of knowledge
management. The next image presents the most significant aspects of knowledge
management through knowledge engineering techniques, starting with safety
knowledge acquirement and ending with knowledge dissemination.

Figure 3 Steps in knowledge management through

knowledge
engineering

Generally, expert tools were used in order to :

Figure 4 Knowledge
storage structure

We have started our
research with the goal to find the safety knowledge needs at some specific workplaces. We have asked
questions like : is there enough knowledge in order to perform safely a certain
task ? Has the manager/supervisor of the workplace/worker the appropriate
knowledge to do this or that ?

From these questions
we have developed a knowledge management checklist which is used as a front for
our Safety Knowledge Management System (SaKnoMaS).

The general SaKnoMaS
schema is presented in the next figure.

Figure 5 SaKnoMaS
general structure

It could be seen that the first step towards the
management of safety knowledge at the workplace is represented by the
assessment of the existent safety knowledge. This assessment is performed in
order to know:

This knowledge
assessment is performed on a threefolded structure:

·On the first level the knowledge assessment is performed
at the floor level of the enterprise, asking the workers;

·On the second level, the knowledge assessment process is
performed at the supervisor level- this level will give an image from the point
of view of qualified workers;

·On the third level, the knowledge assessment process is
performed at the management level; this management level is the view from the
top

Our system maps knowledge on the desired targets, as
could be seen in the figure below.

Figure 6 SaKnoMaS and USKF

Our system is also a three leveled system.

On the first level there is the safety knowledge
assessment system[5].
This system performs assessment on existing safety knowledge and establishes
the need for supplemental safety knowledge and also the knowledge cathegories
needed.

On the second level there is the processment and storage
system- composed as stated before by a network of interactively developable
knowledge bases.

On the third level there is the knowledge dissemination
system [6]that
allows the optimal dissemination of knowledge through tose implied in the work
process.

All these systems are controlled by a control system.

Two examples from our knowledge assessment are presented
below.

OBTAINED RESULTS

The developed prototype for the safety knowledge
assessment component of the system was applied for 300 enterprises in the
construction and electric domains, in
order to catch and analyse the knowledge needs.The checklists were modified in
order to use a 1(most unfavourable) to 6(most favorable) scale of assessment.
This scale is more precise than a yes-no one.

We think that some results are interesting from the need
of knowledge point of view.Some of these most interesting results are presented
graphically below.

a)Knowledge regarding existing risks at the workplace

This is one of the most important things in order to
assure safety at workplace- to know what are the risks that are specifically
acting there.

Figure
7 Risk knowledge

As shown in figure a percent of 48% of the intervieved
specialists have not the necessary knowledge in order to optimally identify and
assess risks at the workplace.

Here, the usage of
SaKnoMaS is a primordial necessity with an essential need of a massive
risk knowledge import from authorised sources.This import could be performed
from risk assessment qualified sources.

b)Assessment of safety knowledge regarding current
activities

Current activities are performed everyday and are the
main work being done at the workplace. Current activities are important because
about 75% of the incidents and accidents at workplace are occuring in current
activities.

Current activities could be efficiently supported by
knowledge.

Figure 8 Current activities knowledge

From this figure it could be seen that about 28% percent of the intervieved workers had just a
mediocre knowledge regarding the safety in current task that they perform. In
this case SaKnoMaS could act as a knowledge improver and knowledge developer
through the betterment of dissemination procedures.

SaKnoMaS could update the existing knowledge through new
knowledge sources. Also, it could assure necessary hyperlinks to external
knowledge sources.

SaKnoMaS could also consolidate knowledge in order to
inprint this knowledge in the worker’s mind.

c)Assessment of
safety knowledge regarding maintenance

Figure
9 Maintenance knowledge needs

Here SaKnoMaS could help towards:

As stated before we
have developed our system modularly, taking into account the need to:

·Assess knowledge;

·Acquire and process knowledge;

·Disseminate knowledge; the system is conceived in order
to run on IBM-PC and also on pocket devices like tablets or mobiles.

An image of the SaKnoMaS running on a mobile is presented in the figure below.

Figure 10 SaKnoMaS
running on a Pocket PC

CONCLUSIONS

Knowledge is an essential asset in risk prevention and
safety assurance at workplaces. Knowledge could be tailored in order to focus
on specific problems at workplace.

Knowledge management could be a usefull instrument in
managing this resource, assuring the necessary knowledge in the right place at
the right time.

This paper present some highlights from a research
developed inside the Romanian National Research Institute for Occupational
Safety in the period 2001-2005.

This research was targeted towards the development of a
efficient safety knowledge management system. This system is a need for every
enterprise in order to optimise its safety state.

Till now there was developed a prototype containing three
distinct systems:

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Acknowledgements:
The author wants to thank XpertRule Software LTD and mr. Tim Sell for being
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expertise. Textbooks and theoretical knowledge are good but the safety expert
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